REPORT OF SURVEY ON THE WILLINGNESS OF POULTRY FARMERS TO FEED THEIR POULTRY WITH BLACK SOLDIERFLY LARVAE SO AS TO DETERMINE THE LOCAL DEMAND FOR BSF LARVAE MEAL TO ENABLE SUPPLY BY ENTREPRENEURS
By
University for Development Studies
To CLIP
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Introduction In recent years, increasing urbanization has played an important role in the change in dietary pattern, causing increasing pressure on the livestock sector to meet the growing demand for high value animal protein (FAO, 2014). Poultry becomes the animal of choice when a quick means of significantly improving animal protein in the human diet is the objective (Longe, 1986). However, escalating cost of feed is currently undermining the progress of poultry industry in Ghana and many other African countries. Apata and Ojo (2000), indicate that the high cost of compound feeds for poultry is driven largely by exorbitant prices of feed ingredients and scarcity of the conventional ingredients, especially fish meal which is highly priced among feed ingredients. Therefore, to reduce the feed cost, University for Development Studies and other researchers have geared their research efforts towards evaluating alternative feed ingredients for poultry. UDS, for instance has been conducting research on black soldier fly (Hermetia illucens) larvae which has the potential to replace fish meal in the diet of poultry for the past 5 years to support poultry farmers in Tamale Metropolis through the support of CLIP_ WASTE Project called TUSWP. Studies show that black soldier fly (Hermetia illucens) larvae meal can replace at least 25% of the fish meal in a diet with no reduction in gain or feed conversion ratio (FCR) in channel catfish (Newton et al. 2004). In relatively small scale trials, Hermetia illucens has been extensively studied for over 30 years as a potential feedstuff for fish and other food animals. However, there is little information on how partial substitutions of fish meal with black soldier fly larvae meal would influence the growth performance of broiler chickens when fed diet containing 33.3% replacement of fish meal with black soldier fly larvae meal. Hence a need to evaluate the willingness of poultry farmers to partially or fully substitute black soldier fly larvae meal with fish meal to enhance the growth, carcass and haematological profile of chickens.
METHODOLOGY Semi-structured questionnaires were developed and administered on 30 poultry farmers in Tamale Metropolis to assess their willingness to partially or fully replace fish meal with BSF larvae so as to enable entrepreneurs to produce the quantity required by poultry farmers.
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FINDINGS Household Headship and Gender of Respondents The survey reveals that 70 % of the respondent poultry farmers interviewed were household heads whereas the remaining 30 % were spouses to household heads. This statistics suggests that the poultry farming is another source of income of most of the households interviewed.
Age Group of Respondents Table 1 gives the age range of poultry farmers interviewed. It can be realised from the table that the most active age group (18-60 years) constituted 93.3 % with the majority in the range of 31- 40 years. This suggests that most of the people who engage in poultry farming are the youth since the task is labour intensive. Table 1: Age group of respondents Age range of respondents
Frequency
Percentage
18-30
4
13.3
31-40
13
43.3
41-50
6
20.0
51-60
5
16.7
60+
2
6.7
Total
30
100.0
The table also gives an indication that majority of the respondents contacted were within the economically active working age group (18 – 60 years). This group still has the potential to improve on poultry production by embracing and applying new ideas. Marital Status of Respondents Table 2 represents the marital status of the poultry farmers interviewed. As could be seen from the Table, majority of the farmers (93.3 %) were married while 6.7% were never married and those were young men who raised poultry as secondary economic activity. This information attests to the fact that the households who embark on poultry production use it as an important livelihood that supports the upkeep of their families. Table 2: Marital status of respondents 3
Marital status of respondents
Frequency
Percentage
Married
28
93.3
Divorced
0
0.0
Widowed
0
0.0
Never Married
2
6.7
Total
30
100.0
Literacy Status of Respondents The survey revealed that 93.3% of the respondents interviewed were literates while 6.7% were illiterates. This can be attributed to the fact that most of the poultry farmers either raise the poultry birds as their secondary occupation or were in another occupation such as teaching before starting the poultry business. The high literacy among the poultry farmers provides the platform for them to embrace and apply new research ideas in their production. Household size of Respondents Figure 1 shows the household size of the respondents. As could be seen from the figure, the largest household size constituted 7 individual households and represent 26 %. However, house size from 4 to 6 constituted 47 % while those from 1 to 3 constituted 6.4 % with 2 respondents living on their own. The interview revealed that some of the poultry farmers still lived together with their parents and siblings except those who were married. It was also gathered from that all the respondents resided in the urban areas of Tamale metropolis though most have their poultry farms in the peri-urban parts of Tamale.
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Fig. 1: Household size of respondents Primary Occupation of Households Figure 2 represents the primary occupation of household of the respondents. From the figure, it could be observed that (50 %) rely on poultry production as the primary source of livelihood whereas the other (50 %) engaged in other professions such as Teaching, Civil serving, Saw milling, Trading etc. This group raise poultry as an additional source of income.
Figure 2: Primary occupation of household
Brief Description of Poultry Production among Respondents The commonest type of birds available to respondents is Chicken (layers, broilers) and guinea fowl. Majority (55 %) of respondents own below 100 birds whilst 45 % rear more than 100 birds. The rearing of local breeds is common to farmers with less than 100 birds. In addition, poultry farmers with less than 100 birds mostly have their poultry housing constructed within the compound or close to their houses whilst those with more than 100 birds have their poultry housing constructed at different areas from where they reside.
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Plate 1; Interview with a poultry farmer at Kpene in the Sagnarigu district.
Plate 2; Broiler Chickens in a pen
Types of poultry feeds and their various prices Table 3 shows a list of various types of feed usually purchased by respondents to feed their poultry birds. The interview revealed that Maize bran, Concentrate and Fish meal were common to all the poultry farmers however the use of Oyster shell, Soya bean meal and Wheat bran were mostly purchased by poultry farms with more than 100 birds. Poultry farmers with about 50 birds who have their poultry pens within the compound of their houses claim they mostly prepare the fish meal and maize brans themselves on a weekly base while those with 100 – 700 birds always buy from the market on monthly base. Prices of poultry feed are not stable and differ from place to place depending on where one buys the feed and the quantity of feed bought as captured in Table 3. While a bag (120-140 kg) of concentrate can cost between GHC115 – 130, a bag of Maize bran (120 – 140 kg) can also cost between GHC 45 – 120. Some of the poultry farmers’ claim they buy from the local markets weekly in milk tins or bowls and that can cost as low as GHC 1 – 2 per tin or bowl. Table 3: List of feed for poultry commonly purchased by farmers Feed
Price range (GHC)
Maize bran Wheat bran Oyster Shell Fish meal Soya bean meal Concentrate
45 – 120 20 – 22 2.00 –upward 1.00 – upward 20.00 – 140 115 – 130
Poultry Farmers’ Awareness of BSFL as Feed for Poultry Birds 6
All the farmers interviewed were aware of BSFL. However, 50 % of the farmers indicated that they first had the knowledge about the black soldier fly larvae at a workshop organised at GILBT by CLIP and UDS followed by a trip they took to observe the various stages of production of the BSFL at the UDS experimental station at Nyankpala. The other 50 % said they were educated by their colleagues who happened to be part of the group that visited the UDS experimental station.
Willingness of poultry farmers to buy BSFL as feed for poultry birds The farmers expressed great interest in buying BSFL as replacement for fish meal in poultry feed. They stressed on the outcome of the experiment conducted by the research institution (University for Development Studies) on some poultry birds. The farmers cited the benefits of the BSFL to outweigh that of the fish meal pointing to the outcome from the UDS experiment. Also they mentioned that aside the fish meal being expensive some of them are adulterated hence the poultry birds did not genuinely derive the right nutrient required from the fish meal; however the evidence seen from the experiment conducted from UDS is enough for them to choose the BSFL as a replacement for the fish meal. Some of the farmers said they will try the BSFL on their birds to see the performance as against the fish meal. The farmers also cited the sanitary control aspect of producing BSFL since the substrate used in production is basically organic waste although kitchen waste is gives the best output. Hence when it is produced on a large scale can help in the control of organic waste in the environment thereby reducing the outbreak of diseases related to organic waste. Willingness of Poultry Farmers to Produce BSFL The farmers showed great willingness to start the production of BSFL although issues about start-up materials such as housing, capital and technical support were cited during the discussions; they still held the view that with a little attention from stakeholders such as NGO’s, financial and research institutions they can produce on their own. Some of the farmers claim they have already begun putting up a set-up on their own with local materials to see how the production pans out. The farmers also saw the business aspect of producing BSFL; however, they maintained that it will be prudent to start on their various farms first to see how feasible it will be to produce on a large scale. They indicated that producing on a large scale may come with its own
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challenges such as capital, gathering of substrate and housing hence some form of support from stakeholder institutions will be needed in that aspect.
General Comments on BSFL as a replacement for fish meal in poultry feed The farmers indicated that the drastic increase in the cost of fish meal is a major challenge for poultry farmers therefore there is a very great potential in BSFL as a replacement for fish meal. The farmers however indicated that there is the need for stakeholder institutions such as financial institutions; NGO’s to come to the aid of farmers who are already willing to start the production of the larvae. They also pointed out that entrepreneurs can be invited to workshops concerning BSFL production for them to also acquire the knowledge on the benefits of BSFL and the business aspect of production. Others indicated that, entrepreneurs can also be brought on board to assist in organising training programmes for the poultry farmers in connection to BSFL production. They added that these entrepreneurs can even act as supervisors to ensure that the training process and production processes are properly done in which successfully trained farmers can also train others thereby spreading the knowledge and skills in BSFL production across the poultry industry. However, one of the farmers was of the view that measures should be put in place so the price of the BSFL does not unnecessarily go up due to the introduction of entrepreneurs.
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